One of the double-edged swords from the current state of technology is constant access to, well, anything.
It's getting pretty late at night. I just ordered a three pack of typewriter ribbons from a small business on the Pacific coast. If previous orders are any indication, the package will probably arrive Friday, several days before the estimated arrival date.
I keep "meaning to" put this order in, and I have been waiting to have all six of the currently-in-the-classroom machines ready to go before I cut students loose to use them. Maybe it's procrastination, maybe it's a bit of worry that there will be no interest, and maybe it's a little of column A, little of column B.
At any rate, the ribbons will be here soon.
I have piqued some students' curiosity with the mid-50s Aristocrat. It was my first typewriter, and it's the machine I go to for quick creation of a short handout, make-up notes or assignments, or other similar tasks. It sees service as the back-up when I get a great idea for a last-minute resource but the print network is going haywire.
It's strange to realize that, when all the typewriters that have been generously donated to my classroom are simultaneously in use, it will be double the number that I've personally witnessed clacking away at once. Last year, we had three at once. Next week, we'll have six at once. Shortly thereafter, I hope to have the others in action, and that brings us to eight.
I am still amazed and inspired at the generosity with which my simple inquiries were met. A couple postings online in various forums, and people responded. We put a few miles on the car to pick up some machines around Chicago. I got to meet a wonderful couple who stopped by for breakfast and to drop off a couple typewriters. The proprietor of a typewriter repair and resale store in KCMO contacted me and sent a couple machines my way.
My students have completed several writing activities already, so it may be the perfect time to introduce the typewriters--just the right amount of novelty now that I have gotten used to their writing and they to my reading.
Wherever you are, keep your pens going and your typebars swinging, folks.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
The Project Grows!
This summer has been wonderful! The weather has been nice, and the typewriter project keeps growing!
I put out some feelers (Craigslist and Reddit postings), and I've gotten a couple responses. Someone from our area contacted me this morning about a couple machines in perfect working condition!
I also am working out the details with someone who restores and sells typewriters, who is willing to donate and ship some for the project (unfortunately, he lives too far away for me to drive and meet him face to face--perhaps in the future)!
This is the sort of thing that makes me enjoy the internet in general and love the typosphere in particular. It's easy to "lose faith in humanity" when you read YouTube and news article comments, but most people are good and interested in the good of others.
I'll update with more specifics as things progress!
More good news!
While looking for a bookshelf to use in our home, I found a 4-shelf unit that was cheap and sturdy, but needed a bit of cleaning up. I went ahead and brought it home (along with some other things, some for the classroom and some for the home) from our parish's rummage sale. It looks like it was used for garage storage, so I pulled it apart, cleaned it up, glued the joints, and replaced the nails that held it together with screws. This morning, it's feeling much sturdier, and it's ready for a coat of paint.
The downside is that the shelves aren't quite tall enough for books (aside from smaller, paperback sizes). The upside? It's perfect for typewriters! For the last weeks of 2014-15, I had three typewriters taking up disproportional space on my bookshelves in the room. There wasn't enough space to store them vertically, and they didn't stack well. This shelf will be great to hold about a dozen machines!
By the way, I mentioned Reddit. If you're unfamiliar with the website, here's a quick description: it started as a news aggregator site (like Digg, Stumble Upon, etc.) and has grown exponentially. There is a Subreddit, or subsection devoted to just about any topic or interest under the sun. Content is all user-generated (and Subreddits are all user-created). If you are interested in typewriters, check out /r/Typewriters; it's a great community, and you can find many helpful links and discussions about identification, repair, maintenance, and just general information. Users frequently post their "new" machines, so it's a great place to see all types of typewriters!
I put out some feelers (Craigslist and Reddit postings), and I've gotten a couple responses. Someone from our area contacted me this morning about a couple machines in perfect working condition!
I also am working out the details with someone who restores and sells typewriters, who is willing to donate and ship some for the project (unfortunately, he lives too far away for me to drive and meet him face to face--perhaps in the future)!
This is the sort of thing that makes me enjoy the internet in general and love the typosphere in particular. It's easy to "lose faith in humanity" when you read YouTube and news article comments, but most people are good and interested in the good of others.
I'll update with more specifics as things progress!
More good news!
While looking for a bookshelf to use in our home, I found a 4-shelf unit that was cheap and sturdy, but needed a bit of cleaning up. I went ahead and brought it home (along with some other things, some for the classroom and some for the home) from our parish's rummage sale. It looks like it was used for garage storage, so I pulled it apart, cleaned it up, glued the joints, and replaced the nails that held it together with screws. This morning, it's feeling much sturdier, and it's ready for a coat of paint.
The downside is that the shelves aren't quite tall enough for books (aside from smaller, paperback sizes). The upside? It's perfect for typewriters! For the last weeks of 2014-15, I had three typewriters taking up disproportional space on my bookshelves in the room. There wasn't enough space to store them vertically, and they didn't stack well. This shelf will be great to hold about a dozen machines!
By the way, I mentioned Reddit. If you're unfamiliar with the website, here's a quick description: it started as a news aggregator site (like Digg, Stumble Upon, etc.) and has grown exponentially. There is a Subreddit, or subsection devoted to just about any topic or interest under the sun. Content is all user-generated (and Subreddits are all user-created). If you are interested in typewriters, check out /r/Typewriters; it's a great community, and you can find many helpful links and discussions about identification, repair, maintenance, and just general information. Users frequently post their "new" machines, so it's a great place to see all types of typewriters!
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Royal HH
The first three typewriters drafted into this project were portables. When new, they were cheaper to own. They are easier to move around (as the name suggests). They made a great gift to that college-bound bookish kid in your life. Hence, portable models are much more common in the wild.
There are some trade-offs to their light weight (relatively speaking) and small size. Portables are less robust (especially later models), more likely to be damaged (it's easier to drop something if you're toting it all around), louder, and less comfortable to use.
It is for these last reasons that I've wanted a desktop typewriter for some time. Due to their increased mass, non-portables seem to absorb much more of the noise they produce than portables. Thick body panels, more (and better) sound deadening felt, etc. Due to their increased size and weight, they are easier to operate. There's simply more room to squeeze in all those levers, springs, and hooks. Also, stationary units can be weighted with an eye toward ease of typing without worrying about making the whole package too heavy.
With all this in mind, you can imagine my excitement at seeing a Royal HH for sale on Craigslist! It's a desktop machine from the '50s. It looked to be in good shape, had a good story behind it, and was listed at a great price. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of Chicago (nearly a 2-hour drive), and I didn't think I'd be able to make it over there.
So, I sent the seller an e-mail complimenting the machine and offering some further information (I was guessing it was an HH based on the pictures, and made some other educated guesses). Much to my surprise, she replied with an offer to donate the machine to my classroom project if I could come pick it up!
I contacted a colleague and friend who recently moved over here from Chicago, and we made arrangements to drive over and pick up the machine.
In the few brief minutes we were chatting with the HH's owners, I'm sure my typewriter enthusiasm struck them as a bit unusual. "Thank you so, so much" must have tumbled from my lips a dozen times or more.
What was going to be the first of many slow, easy days of summer break turned into an afternoon adventure wherein we met some wonderful people and got to hear their amazing story.
I am all for integrating technology into the classroom when it benefits the learning process. I've made great use of the tablets we have at school, for example. However, one thing that shiny, new technology lacks is story.
The tablets we use in class were purchased in a lot of several hundred, un-boxed and set up by tech. students, and wheeled into the classroom. Each one of these typewriters has its own story. Some of them have many stories, and we may only know one. Perhaps its our job, not only to create new stories with them, but to carry on the old stories, as well.
There are some trade-offs to their light weight (relatively speaking) and small size. Portables are less robust (especially later models), more likely to be damaged (it's easier to drop something if you're toting it all around), louder, and less comfortable to use.
It is for these last reasons that I've wanted a desktop typewriter for some time. Due to their increased mass, non-portables seem to absorb much more of the noise they produce than portables. Thick body panels, more (and better) sound deadening felt, etc. Due to their increased size and weight, they are easier to operate. There's simply more room to squeeze in all those levers, springs, and hooks. Also, stationary units can be weighted with an eye toward ease of typing without worrying about making the whole package too heavy.
With all this in mind, you can imagine my excitement at seeing a Royal HH for sale on Craigslist! It's a desktop machine from the '50s. It looked to be in good shape, had a good story behind it, and was listed at a great price. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of Chicago (nearly a 2-hour drive), and I didn't think I'd be able to make it over there.
So, I sent the seller an e-mail complimenting the machine and offering some further information (I was guessing it was an HH based on the pictures, and made some other educated guesses). Much to my surprise, she replied with an offer to donate the machine to my classroom project if I could come pick it up!
I contacted a colleague and friend who recently moved over here from Chicago, and we made arrangements to drive over and pick up the machine.
In the few brief minutes we were chatting with the HH's owners, I'm sure my typewriter enthusiasm struck them as a bit unusual. "Thank you so, so much" must have tumbled from my lips a dozen times or more.
What was going to be the first of many slow, easy days of summer break turned into an afternoon adventure wherein we met some wonderful people and got to hear their amazing story.
I am all for integrating technology into the classroom when it benefits the learning process. I've made great use of the tablets we have at school, for example. However, one thing that shiny, new technology lacks is story.
The tablets we use in class were purchased in a lot of several hundred, un-boxed and set up by tech. students, and wheeled into the classroom. Each one of these typewriters has its own story. Some of them have many stories, and we may only know one. Perhaps its our job, not only to create new stories with them, but to carry on the old stories, as well.
Acquisitions
After my first foray into classroom typewriter use, I decided to ramp up the search for more machines. Now, if you are looking for typewriters, there are some things you should know:
You can sometimes find them at garage sales. The problem here is the word sometimes. It takes a lot of legwork (or carwork) to get from sale to sale, and it's always a dice roll on whether the machines will be functional and affordable.
You can often find them in antique shops. The problem here is price. Like much antique store inventory, sellers of typewriters often have an inflated sense of their machines' dollar value. To someone looking for a nice shelf accent in their den, a small, seized-up, pre-war portable might be worth $50-60 or more if it's nice and shiny (or has an agreeable patina). To someone looking to source a classroom set (or as near as possible) on a very limited budget, few machines (if any) are worth that much money. To your average typewriter collector, a non-working machine probably will not be worth that price. Most of the extant machines are such because so many were made. Typewriters are the home/office computers of the past, and portable typewriters the laptop/notebook computers. While I'm sure IBM Thinkpads will populate the displays of antique stores in 2040, they will not likely command a high price. They are simply too numerous to be rare.
You can sometimes find them in thrift shops. In a 20 mile radius of my home, I know of three thrift shops that each have at least two typewriters in stock and a few more that have one. The problem here is type (no pun intended). The daisy wheel typewriters of the eighties and early nineties (many of which were basic word processing computers) are easy and cheap to find, and the non-digital, electric typewriters of the 60s-80s are close behind. These are usually cheap (probably because they look more like obsolete computer gear than something that can be sold as retro, vintage, or mid-century), but they are not manual. I am looking for manual typewriters, non-electric machines that translate downward force from a fingertip directly into a whacking typeslug putting a letter on the page.
You can find them on Craigslist. This is where I am having luck so far (and seems to be a major source in general). Within a 40 mile radius, there are 40+ typewriters that fit my criteria (aside from price).
Of course, in addition to these sources, you can find old typewriters in many places (your relatives' basements and attics, for example). These are simply the places where I have been able to find them most consistently. You can also buy them on eBay, but shipping a typewriter is both highly expensive and highly risky.
I found my first new acquisition at a thrift store in my own town. For a small price, I picked up a Royal Safari (1964) in what I call coffin-lining blue. It's a beautiful little machine. It's a simple story, so I'll leave it at that.
The second acquisition, a Royal HH, deserves its own post.
You can sometimes find them at garage sales. The problem here is the word sometimes. It takes a lot of legwork (or carwork) to get from sale to sale, and it's always a dice roll on whether the machines will be functional and affordable.
You can often find them in antique shops. The problem here is price. Like much antique store inventory, sellers of typewriters often have an inflated sense of their machines' dollar value. To someone looking for a nice shelf accent in their den, a small, seized-up, pre-war portable might be worth $50-60 or more if it's nice and shiny (or has an agreeable patina). To someone looking to source a classroom set (or as near as possible) on a very limited budget, few machines (if any) are worth that much money. To your average typewriter collector, a non-working machine probably will not be worth that price. Most of the extant machines are such because so many were made. Typewriters are the home/office computers of the past, and portable typewriters the laptop/notebook computers. While I'm sure IBM Thinkpads will populate the displays of antique stores in 2040, they will not likely command a high price. They are simply too numerous to be rare.
You can sometimes find them in thrift shops. In a 20 mile radius of my home, I know of three thrift shops that each have at least two typewriters in stock and a few more that have one. The problem here is type (no pun intended). The daisy wheel typewriters of the eighties and early nineties (many of which were basic word processing computers) are easy and cheap to find, and the non-digital, electric typewriters of the 60s-80s are close behind. These are usually cheap (probably because they look more like obsolete computer gear than something that can be sold as retro, vintage, or mid-century), but they are not manual. I am looking for manual typewriters, non-electric machines that translate downward force from a fingertip directly into a whacking typeslug putting a letter on the page.
You can find them on Craigslist. This is where I am having luck so far (and seems to be a major source in general). Within a 40 mile radius, there are 40+ typewriters that fit my criteria (aside from price).
Of course, in addition to these sources, you can find old typewriters in many places (your relatives' basements and attics, for example). These are simply the places where I have been able to find them most consistently. You can also buy them on eBay, but shipping a typewriter is both highly expensive and highly risky.
I found my first new acquisition at a thrift store in my own town. For a small price, I picked up a Royal Safari (1964) in what I call coffin-lining blue. It's a beautiful little machine. It's a simple story, so I'll leave it at that.
The second acquisition, a Royal HH, deserves its own post.
Rationale, Parts Two and Following
It was in reading Ryan Adney's blog that I started to grok that typewriters in a classroom, even in 2015, even alongside tablets and cloud storage, could work.
Mr. Adney teaches English in Phoenix, Arizona, and he has been documenting his Classroom Typewriter Project for several years. One of the most inspiring posts on his blog is a brief summary of his project's results. To make it even more brief, I'll just say the following: it works.
This was enough to convince me to bring in a typewriter.
At that point, we owned two typewriters: a 1956 Royal Aristocrat and a 1979-or-very-early-'80s Underwood 319. I decided to try the Underwood for two reasons.
1. As a newer machine, it looks more familiar to people who grew up with computers. It is relatively small, and the body is made of hard plastic. While it certainly looks "old," it does not necessarily look "old-fashioned." In other words, I thought it might seem less alien to my students.
2. The bigger reason, or more immediate, was weight. As a smaller, later, plastic-er machine, the Underwood weighs significantly less than the Royal.
The reaction was incredible. In one class, only one student was interested in typing his paragraph. In the other five classes, several people wanted to put their names in the hat.
As I was explaining the basics of the machine to one lucky winner, the student decided it was a bit much. He asked if he could pass it on to someone else for the day, and he chose the classmate who was excitedly listening to the instructions I was giving. This other student wrote his paragraph on the typewriter. This may not seem notable until you know that this other student is often loath to do any writing. On the following day, the student wanted to finish typing his paragraph. As I was helping him load his page into the carriage, I saw something that is often missing from drafts (no matter how much I encourage, insist, explain, and beg)--proofreading marks. I complimented the student on the effort he was putting in, and he said (paraphrased), "Yeah, I just wanted to write something really good, since I'm using this typewriter!"
I should mention that I'm not using an exclamation point there to express my excitement (though I had plenty in the moment). This student was excited about writing. I'd tried many approaches over the course of the year (and will try those and many more in the coming year), but this simple, old, obsolete machine was the spark that got this student fired up about writing. About his own writing.
That's worth the price of admission, right there.
Mr. Adney teaches English in Phoenix, Arizona, and he has been documenting his Classroom Typewriter Project for several years. One of the most inspiring posts on his blog is a brief summary of his project's results. To make it even more brief, I'll just say the following: it works.
This was enough to convince me to bring in a typewriter.
At that point, we owned two typewriters: a 1956 Royal Aristocrat and a 1979-or-very-early-'80s Underwood 319. I decided to try the Underwood for two reasons.
1. As a newer machine, it looks more familiar to people who grew up with computers. It is relatively small, and the body is made of hard plastic. While it certainly looks "old," it does not necessarily look "old-fashioned." In other words, I thought it might seem less alien to my students.
2. The bigger reason, or more immediate, was weight. As a smaller, later, plastic-er machine, the Underwood weighs significantly less than the Royal.
The reaction was incredible. In one class, only one student was interested in typing his paragraph. In the other five classes, several people wanted to put their names in the hat.
As I was explaining the basics of the machine to one lucky winner, the student decided it was a bit much. He asked if he could pass it on to someone else for the day, and he chose the classmate who was excitedly listening to the instructions I was giving. This other student wrote his paragraph on the typewriter. This may not seem notable until you know that this other student is often loath to do any writing. On the following day, the student wanted to finish typing his paragraph. As I was helping him load his page into the carriage, I saw something that is often missing from drafts (no matter how much I encourage, insist, explain, and beg)--proofreading marks. I complimented the student on the effort he was putting in, and he said (paraphrased), "Yeah, I just wanted to write something really good, since I'm using this typewriter!"
I should mention that I'm not using an exclamation point there to express my excitement (though I had plenty in the moment). This student was excited about writing. I'd tried many approaches over the course of the year (and will try those and many more in the coming year), but this simple, old, obsolete machine was the spark that got this student fired up about writing. About his own writing.
That's worth the price of admission, right there.
Rationale, Part One
When I was in 8th grade, our language arts teacher had a PC and an electric typewriter in her room for student use. I remember several unique things about Mrs. Boston, but one of the most poignant memories is the interest we showed in that electric typewriter.
Each week, we took spelling tests. Each week, one student would get to use the computer, and one student would get to use the typewriter. The PC was somewhere between obsolete and vintage. It was old enough that many of the students had more powerful computers at home, but not so old as to be interesting based on its antiquation.
They typewriter, however, suffered no such ubiquity. Though surely a few of us had seen--and perhaps used--similar machines at home, they were not so common as to inure us to their charm. The machine would hum to life at the snap of its heavy switch, waiting eagerly for one of us test ourselves with abbreviate or voucher.
See, we didn't want to use a pencil and paper. We used those in every class. We wanted to use the computer, sure, but we yearned to use the typewriter.
Perhaps I should clarify that, as a nearly-thirty-year-old man, I realize I may have been one of the few actually yearning to use the typewriter, but we all seemed pretty excited about it.
As this year came to a close, I started thinking about next year. That led to thinking about what gets me interested in writing (and what did so when I was a teenager). Memories of Mrs. Boston's typewriter loomed large. I wondered how I might be able to elicit some of that same excitement in my students. We don't do spelling tests, but we do a sizable amount of writing.
This led, like most of my impulsive ideas, to several hours of research and reading.
That research led me to Ryan Adney's Classroom Typewriter Project Blog.
Each week, we took spelling tests. Each week, one student would get to use the computer, and one student would get to use the typewriter. The PC was somewhere between obsolete and vintage. It was old enough that many of the students had more powerful computers at home, but not so old as to be interesting based on its antiquation.
They typewriter, however, suffered no such ubiquity. Though surely a few of us had seen--and perhaps used--similar machines at home, they were not so common as to inure us to their charm. The machine would hum to life at the snap of its heavy switch, waiting eagerly for one of us test ourselves with abbreviate or voucher.
See, we didn't want to use a pencil and paper. We used those in every class. We wanted to use the computer, sure, but we yearned to use the typewriter.
Perhaps I should clarify that, as a nearly-thirty-year-old man, I realize I may have been one of the few actually yearning to use the typewriter, but we all seemed pretty excited about it.
As this year came to a close, I started thinking about next year. That led to thinking about what gets me interested in writing (and what did so when I was a teenager). Memories of Mrs. Boston's typewriter loomed large. I wondered how I might be able to elicit some of that same excitement in my students. We don't do spelling tests, but we do a sizable amount of writing.
This led, like most of my impulsive ideas, to several hours of research and reading.
That research led me to Ryan Adney's Classroom Typewriter Project Blog.
Introduction
In the way of introduction, my name is Joshua Keirn.
I teach English at Portage High School in Portage, Indiana.
As do most English teachers, I have a longstanding love of writing and literature. As do many English teachers, I also have a strong interest in typewriters.
Toward the end of my first year at PHS (the same year we just wrapped up), I decided to bring in a manual typewriter to allow students the chance to type their in-class writing on a machine they had only previously seen in movies and television.
I was motivated by a few factors (more to come in a future post), but I was unsure how the experiment would play out. Much to my surprise and pleasure, the students were excited! There were a couple complaints about the noise, and a few students were indifferent, but most of the students were very interested. We had to put names in a hat to draw and see who would get to use it the first time around in most of my classes, and some of my students who are loath to write much of anything dove into the brief writing activity with gusto, knowing that's what they needed to do in order to take a whack at the keyboard.
The following week, I brought in a couple more typewriters (my full collection, at the time, of three machines). A few students even asked if they could type their answers to a short quiz we took (I had to decline for logistical reasons--it was a very short quiz).
My new classroom for the 2015-16 year is more spacious (plenty of room for a few typing tables aside from the desks, and large enough that the click-clack of typewriters has room to dissipate a little), and my typewriter plans are expanding to match!
In addition to curriculum planning, my main school-related goal for the summer is to acquire typewriters. Several of them. I've been scouring Craigslist, classifieds, and thrift and antique shops. I've been sending e-mails to sellers. I've been hearing the sweet clacking of typebars in my sleep.
I decided to create this blog to chronicle the experiment (and, for now, to give interested parties a place to find basic information on the project and my rationale for it).
Check back here for more information in the coming days, weeks, and perhaps years!
I teach English at Portage High School in Portage, Indiana.
As do most English teachers, I have a longstanding love of writing and literature. As do many English teachers, I also have a strong interest in typewriters.
Toward the end of my first year at PHS (the same year we just wrapped up), I decided to bring in a manual typewriter to allow students the chance to type their in-class writing on a machine they had only previously seen in movies and television.
I was motivated by a few factors (more to come in a future post), but I was unsure how the experiment would play out. Much to my surprise and pleasure, the students were excited! There were a couple complaints about the noise, and a few students were indifferent, but most of the students were very interested. We had to put names in a hat to draw and see who would get to use it the first time around in most of my classes, and some of my students who are loath to write much of anything dove into the brief writing activity with gusto, knowing that's what they needed to do in order to take a whack at the keyboard.
The following week, I brought in a couple more typewriters (my full collection, at the time, of three machines). A few students even asked if they could type their answers to a short quiz we took (I had to decline for logistical reasons--it was a very short quiz).
My new classroom for the 2015-16 year is more spacious (plenty of room for a few typing tables aside from the desks, and large enough that the click-clack of typewriters has room to dissipate a little), and my typewriter plans are expanding to match!
In addition to curriculum planning, my main school-related goal for the summer is to acquire typewriters. Several of them. I've been scouring Craigslist, classifieds, and thrift and antique shops. I've been sending e-mails to sellers. I've been hearing the sweet clacking of typebars in my sleep.
I decided to create this blog to chronicle the experiment (and, for now, to give interested parties a place to find basic information on the project and my rationale for it).
Check back here for more information in the coming days, weeks, and perhaps years!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)